THE ROMANCE OF MILITARY INSIGNIA
class who participated in the battles of
St. Vincent, Camperdown, the Nile, Tra
falgar, and other famous naval victories
between 1794 and 1815; to battalion and
higher commanders in the Battle of
Maida, 1806; and finally the Peninsula
gold medal of 1810, given to higher offi
cers who took part in the victories in
Spain during 1808 and 1809.
THE ORIGIN OF CLASPS WITH MEDALS
The Peninsula medal is worthy of
further comment, as it established an
other precedent, just adopted by the
United States-the system of clasps. As
first authorized, a medal wvas given for
each battle, all being the same, except
that the name of the battle was on the
reverse. The authorization was gradu
ally extended to include the entire Penin
sula war, and the number of medals pos
sessed by some of the officers became so
large that in 1813 it was directed that
one medal only should be worn by each
officer, and that for each other battle a
bar bearing the name of the battle should
be placed on the ribbon of the medal.
The number of these bars (or clasps,
as they are now called) was limited to
two, and as one engagement was inscribed
on the medal this was equivalent to three
battles.
When an officer had been present in
four battles the medal was replaced by
a gold cross having the names of the four.
battles thereon, one on each arm of the
cross, and subsequent engagements were
again shown by clasps placed on the rib
bon of the cross.
This is the origin of the system of
clasps which has been in use by the
British since that time and which we
have just adopted in the case of the Vic
tory Medal.
The East India Company continued its
practice, giving a silver medal* to the
native troops of the campaign of 1795-6
which captured Ceylon; to its troops
who took part in the Battle of Alexandria
against the French in 1801, and to those
who took part in the capture of Java in
1811.
Still the British Government did noth
ing for the rank and file, and private in
dividuals began to bestow medals. Thus
General Eliot, the commander at Gibral-
tar, personally gave a medal to all the
members of the Hanoverian brigade who
took part in the famous defense of that
fortress, 1779-82; the British troops got
nothing.
In 1798 a Mr. Davison, friend of
Nelson, presented medals to every officer,
seaman, and marine in the Battle of the
Nile. Admirals and captains received a
gold medal, lieutenants and warrant offi
cers one in silver, and the men one in
bronze. They were worn from a blue
ribbon around the neck. This was fol
lowed by a similar presentation on the
part of a Mr. Boulton to all who took
part in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
This was worn from a dark-blue ribbon.
WATERLOO INAUGURATED A UNIVERSAL
PRACTICE
Notwithstanding these examples, it
was not till Waterloo that the British
Government returned to the Dunbar
precedent. In 1816 the Waterloo Medal
was authorized "to be conferred upon
every officer, non-commissioned officer,
and soldier present upon that memorable
occasion," and this definitely inaugurated
the present custom of granting the same
medal to officers and men alike, which
has been followed by the British since
that time and has now spread to all the
nations of the world. It is truly a uni
versal custom; so it is hoped that this
survey of its development will not be
amiss.
In later years the British tried to rem
edy the results of previous neglect by
authorizing medals for campaigns prior
to Waterloo, the most notable of these
being the Peninsula Medal, given to all
the survivors of the engagements between
1793 and 1814, including not only those
in the Peninsula War, but also in Egypt
and the West Indies. However, as this
was not done until 1848, the survivors
were not very numerous. There were 28
clasps with this medal, 15 being the great
est number awarded to one man.
FIRST AMERICAN MEDAL GIVEN TO
WASHINGTON
The British Navy General Service
Medal of 1847, issued to all who saw
service in the naval engagements between
1793 and 1815, is remarkable in the num-
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